Feathered Friends
by Kishiro Kitsune
Summary: AU. On their way to meet up with the rest of their friends in Lestallum, Pidge and Keith make a stop at Wiz's Chocobo Post for a little rest and relaxation. While Keith isn't sure what to make of the large birds, Pidge is delighted. (No knowledge of FFXV is needed for this.)


I just wanted to write a fic where Pidge gets to spend time with chocobos, but it's also a good chance to test out an idea for a possible multi-chapter fic. So if you like this and want more, just let me know. (It will be a while before I get around to expanding this universe, as I want to finish I'll Take Her Place first, but I'm also trying to figure out what my next project will be so I can start planning.)

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 **Feathered Friends**

All it took was a single look and then Pidge was gone, crooning over the fat yellow birds as they surrounded her, chirping and begging for treats. Keith stood back and watched with a weary eye, unsure of what to make of chocobos. The small ones seemed harmless enough, but the adults - the ones large enough to ride - seemed capable of putting up a fight if they were provoked.

Keith really didn't like how sharp those talons looked. Or those beaks. Or the way those beady black eyes looked at him.

Too bad Pidge noticed none of it, happy to fawn over the babies as they curiously hopped on top of her the moment she crouched down to stroke their soft feathers. They knocked her off balance, but she giggled as she fell over into the dirt.

And for a moment Keith forgot about the adults, captivated by the bright smile on her face. It'd been a while since he last saw her look so happy.

" _Kweh_!"

Something gently nipped at his hair and Keith sprang away, his heart racing as he came face-to-face with one of the adult birds. Unlike the others, which had yellow-gold feathers, the one assaulting him had bright red plumage. It cocked its head and made that sound again, its beak clicking as it leaned forward to try and get to his hair again.

"Hey, stop that!" Keith protested, taking another step back.

Pidge looked up at his cry, though she had to be careful not to dislodge the chicks that had made themselves comfortable on top of and around her. She stifled her laughter with one hand as she watched Keith try to fend off the friendly chocobo. "Aww, he likes you!"

"I don't want him to like me!" Keith responded. He didn't dare look away from the red chocobo, knowing that the moment he did, it was likely to try and get close again.

"I don't think he's going to give you a choice," Pidge said. Her brown eyes glittered with amusement as she watched the chocobo curiously walk around him, searching for any opening. The bird was persistent, much like Keith himself. Pidge wondered if she could swing renting that particular chocobo for Keith to ride, though before she could ask about that she'd have to convince Keith that traveling by the large birds would be far faster and more economical than camping and hitchhiking their way to Lestallum.

It would be a challenge worthy of her intellect.

She watched him with a fond smile, taking the moment to relax. For once her mind wasn't swamped with hundreds of ideas of how they should proceed, how much money they had left, or what kinds of hunts they could undertake with the weapons they carried. It was the first time since they left that she felt content with doing nothing.

It was nice.

"How long are we staying here?"

Pidge considered the question. She knew better than to push it, but they really did need time to rest. "A day. Maybe two."

Keith grunted as though that was the exact response he'd been expecting, but not the one he wanted. "Alright. I'll go see about renting the caravan. We have gil for that, right?"

"We should," Pidge responded. "You might want to ask about any hunts in the area too, just in case. It wouldn't hurt to have a little extra."

The idea of taking on a few local hunts seemed to cheer him up a bit and he nodded in agreement before jogging off to see what he could find. Pidge turned her attention back to the baby chocobos as one of them nudged against her arm, cheeping for more attention. She laughed softly as she stroked the feathers on its head.

"Lance is going to be _so_ jealous," she told them.

That sparked an idea and Pidge carefully dug her phone out of the pockets of her jacket, doing her best not to dislodge any of the chicks. There were some grumpy peeps from some of the napping ones, but they all easily resettled once she stopped moving. Grinning, Pidge opened the camera app and held her phone up for a selfie, trying to get as many of the chicks in frame as she could. Once she was satisfied with the photo, she set about to sending it to the other half of their travelling party.

 _Pidge: [photo attached] Stopping to rest near Cauthess! See you guys in a few days!_

 _Lance: That is SO not fair!_

 _Pidge: ;P_

 _Hunk: Awwwww, they're so cute!_

 _Alllura: Shiro's driving right now, but he says: "Be careful down there. I've been hearing nasty rumors about behemoths in that area. Don't let Keith talk you into anything too crazy." I'd like to add to steer clear of Fociaugh Hollow. Maybe it isn't as dangerous as it once was, but I don't like the idea of you two going there on your own._

 _Pidge: Don't worry. We'll pick up a few small hunts, but I doubt we'll be travelling far. Keith doesn't seem too fond of the chocobos._

 _Lance: I knew I should've gone with you guys!_

Pidge found herself smiling at their predictable responses. She almost didn't hear Keith's approach until he was next to her and sitting down in the dirt with a map. She tried her best not to laugh when the red chocobo happily settled down as well, trying its best to preen him.

"Stop that," Keith grumbled, pushing the too-friendly bird away. "Okay, so I talked to the owner, Wiz. The caravan is thirty gil per night and he gave me this map for some hunts in the area. The closest one is a pack of voretooths up around Malacchi Hills. It shouldn't give the two of us much problem."

Pidge hummed in agreement, leaning over to get a better look at the map. It was marked with three different colored pins in green, yellow, and red, which she assumed represented how difficult the hunts were. The Malacchi Hills pin was green and there were two others that were the same. "Did you ask about the reward?"

"Around two-thousand gil and a free lunch at the cafe," Keith replied.

"Not too bad… That should be enough to rent two chocobos so we can get to Lestallum sooner."

"Yeah, I- Wait." Keith narrowed his eyes at her, not fooled at all by the way she looked back at him as though she'd said nothing unordinary. "Who said anything about renting chocobos?"

"Well, I'd had to separate you from your new friend," Pidge said, going for a teasing approach. She was aided by the red chocobo, who softly cooed and rested its head on top of Keith's.

Keith sighed. "Even if we wanted to, we couldn't. Wiz isn't renting out chocobos right now. Something about a behemoth problem."

Shiro's warning was a distant thought as Pidge eyed the map, wondering which of the pins represented the behemoth. The reward was bound to be a good one, and if they were also helping save the chocobos in the area, that was also a bonus. "So, hypothetically, if we were to take care of this problem…"

"Four-thousand gil, free lunch and dinner, and Wiz reopens rentals," Keith listed off. He pointed to a yellow pin just above the voretooths location. "It's up here, in the Nebulawood. We'll have to find the right path to get in, but it shouldn't be too hard to find. It has to be big enough for a behemoth to get through, right?" There was an excited gleam in his eyes at the promise of a good hunt.

As long as they took precautions, they would make it through alright. He was strong enough to keep Pidge safe _and_ kill the behemoth. Besides that, Pidge was pretty strong herself and her ability to think on the fly had saved him more than once. There was no one else he would trust to have his back on a hunt.

Shiro would definitely have something to say about it if he knew what they were planning, but it wasn't like they had to tell him _everything_ they got up to while they were apart. No one else had to know.

"So when do we leave?" Pidge asked eagerly.

Keith grinned back at her. "Two hours."


End file.
